I think purpose-built is a good way to describe it. The colour scheme is really nice in person. I was very close to upgrading my Starlett order to a Stratus but the foot print of it was just too large. After listening to the Starlett I in no way feel I settled. Its hard to imagine what can sound much better but the Stratus is supposed to. I do wonder how consistent the DNA house sound is amongst his amps.
If you place the order I hope you dont have too much of a wait time. Its worth it just to feel the volume pot alone - what a masterpiece that thing is!!
Donald is also great to deal with if you have any questions.
Isn’t it the fun part of our hobby? one step after the other on the ladder(you see what I did). Some steps are huge and some come right after another LoL
The best part is, to enjoy old and new music
Seems like you are into it
Yeah I had a nice correspondence with Donald. I always prefer buying from a person/designer rather than something corporate. And also US-made is very important. (OK, I know you have to get the best tubes from China but otherwise). … ANyway, thanks for the great input!
If I see it as I think you intend me to then you are a clever fellow . For the moment I have no witty r2r retort.
How can I not be after hearing what I am hearing! I have trouble describing it to like minded people who have only heard AirPods.
As much as possible, I will always favour the boutique manufacturers as well. There is something about being able to talk to the person behind it all that is satisfying and they tend to stand behind their gear.
My other hobby is amateur astronomy and I once called a company with a question and the head guy himself (a legend in the field) actually answered the phone and talked to me!! It still amazes me to this day.
Very nice writeup! I have the Starlett on order atm, with a projected delivery date in December but hopefully it comes sooner! I will try to post impressions once I get it in!
Great write up, so the inevitable question; What was your journey in terms of your previous amp and what else you considered before finalizing on the Starlett?
@dncnexus@perogie Donald gave me the same ETA (December) for the Stratus. 6 months doesn’t seem too bad. I waited about that long for my DeVore Gibbon X speakers. That gives me time to scrape up the rest of the cash for the amp, hahaha.
Previous amps were a magni 3 and the IFI micro iDSD BL, so going to the Starlett was a big jump.
I considered a few different tube amps before settling on the Starlett. I looked at some Cayin stuff, Feliks Audio Euphoria, was considering maybe something from EC (before they shut er down); but, the final three were the Starlett, the Pendant and the ECP T4.
All 3 would have been great Im sure. Decided against the T4 as I wanted all tubes. The Pendant was probably my 1b choice and Zach answered a lot of questions for me about it, but in the end I was wondering if it may be a bit too neutral. I was going off of internet reviews here as I had no ability to try before I buy with any of this stuff.
Ultimately went with the Starlett more on a gut feeling based on what Donald pulled off with this other amps. His end goal with the Starlett was for it to be an easy listen with cheap tubes and that was appealing to me as Im not that interested in being a multi amp guy (will get a good solid state at some point though). Im also a ZMFer and this amp is meant to match with dynamics.
I told my wife the day that I first turned the Starlett on that this was one of the few times where a high dollar purchase (for a hobby and at least for me) was completely worth it. I simply forgot what it cost and listened to it. I havent regretted the purchase in the slightest.
I paid in instalments. Just PayPal whenever I had some extra. Made it seem like less of an expense to put the occasional 500 down here and there rather than a couple thousand at once.
The Starlett came one month earlier than I expected ( was told 4 months ). In fact it is one of the few positive memories about my working at a Covid assessment centre: I got the email from Donald about it being ready one day when I was working there, made the day a lot better.
The humor and tone was spot on and I really like the ‘real world’, practical approach, where it is about the pleasure of the music and not the techie measurements (though I obsess over those too😂)
Curious to know what was the biggest difference you experienced from what you expected/anticipated the sound to be?
It was an interesting experience. Actually, I was only expecting some small improvements over what I was using before, figured that the increased cost of the amp would only yield small improvements as I am well aware of the law of diminishing returns and thought it may apply here. I was wrong. The amp is another level (or levels) above my other amps so the biggest difference was simply how big the difference was (I know that sounds corny).
I think the best compliment I can give the Starlett, without getting into overly audiophile details, is that it makes me want to keep listening. With my other amps I would hear something and think to myself “that sounds pretty good” and would then move on; with the Starlett, when I hear something I like it sticks with me and needs to be heard again. When I cant listen, due to other responsibilities, the music I hear on the Starlett is always with me in my head during my day to day, it’s a level of engagement that I find exceptional.
Yea it is a long lead time, hopefully I don’t buy too much waiting for it! And the headphones I will pair with it are the Cocobolo Auteurs and HD 6XX although will add in a Verite Open and HD 800S eventually.
My Stratus is due to be built this month, it’s funny to look back on the emails I had with Donald when I ordered it and what headphones I thought I would be using I on it, vs what I’ve bought In the mean time and will likely use.
From the reviews I have seen, Utopias pair decent with the Starlett and takes away some of its metallic timbre. I always recommend checking out the ZMF lineup, but if you are curious if DNA would work with the Focal lineup, it seems they do pair decently well, but many people seem to prefer the Euphoria over the DNA stuff. But I can’t comment personally just what I have seen from others.
It should pair very well with the Utopia I would think. Donald tunes for dynamics. And also yes re the ZMFs plus what Donald said.
I wonder how much of that is just market share and advertising related. I think DNA is a smaller operation than Feliks and I have seen their ads here and there but nothing for DNA (more of an audiophile word of mouth thing). I read reviews of the DNA stuff vs the Euforia and went DNA, as did yourself, so who knows? The very limited posts I have seen comparing the the Euforia against the Starlett had the Starlett being preferred. However, it does depend upon what your listening preferences are.
Have the Auteur myself and its a top level pairing. Got the VO coming soon. I imagine the 6XX would pair well. Am considering the 800S like yourself but not sure if its overall tonal balance would be something I would like - would be a specialist headphone for soundstage and detail.
From what I hear, the DNA Starlett is a better amplifier than the Euphoria, just the synergy with the Focal might be a bit better due to it being a more thick tubey type amp. I decided on DNA cause I believe it to be superior as well as more synergistic with my gear. I agree with the 800S being more for detail and soundstage. Thats the exact reason I wanna pick one up. Don’t think I will use that much but good to scratch that itch when I do!
. For the moment I have no witty r2r retort.